The tale of the handsome commander
by Ichigo to Hana
Summary: I want the gold to be prepared if Cudgeon's plan goes wrong. Try to win all my supporters for my plan. I'm pretty sure Lope will be on our side, Cahartez too and maybe even Vinyáya. She always had a fondness of me. I am good looking after all. "You can t be serious!" "I never make any jokes", Root claimed, without flinching an eyelash. "Never."


**Ichigo:** I guess it is my turn now to open the next "door" of our calendar project. Hey Hana, do you want to hear a new story, which takes place in the Artemis Fowl universe?

 **Hana:** Artemis Fowl? We´ve never tried that one, but sure! *crosses her legs* tell me a story.

 **Ichigo:** Guess there is a first time for everything ;)  
I decided not to stick to the most popular characters, which would be Artemis and Holly, but to put more focus on Root and, well, you have to read it. ^^

 **Hana:** Read? I thought you´d tell me…Oh well, I am able to read, so give me the laptop and let me see your newest creation. *grabs laptop off Ichigo´s desk*

 **Ichigo:** Hey, that´s mine! I own it!  
But I don´t own the Artemis Fowl series. Anyway, have fun reading. *tries to get her laptop back*

 **Hana:** And don´t forget to solve the riddle at the end and send the solution as PM, so no one can cheat ;) *runs away with the laptop*

 **Ichigo:** Come baaaack!

 **AN:**

Have you ever read a scene or just a line in a book and thought that maybe there was a bit more behind those words than officially stated? Well, there is such a line for me (Ichigo) in the first book of the Artemis Fowl series.  
Holly is still trapped inside Fowl Manor. Commander Julius Root and lieutenant Briar Cudgeon have a little disagreement over the topic of releasing a troll inside the building, mainly because Holly could be harmed. And then, there comes this line: _I´m pretty sure Lope will be on our side, Cahartez too and maybe even Vinyáya. She always had a fondness of me. I am good looking after all._ (Which is, by the way roughly translated, as I only own the German copy of the novels. The original line may differ to a certain extent.) What caught my attention was the "special" connection between Vinyáya and Root. I´m not sure if I gave this scene too much thoughts, but I had to much fun writing about it and had to share it with you (and Hana, who had to read it first ^^)

The first paragraph originally belongs to Eoin Colfer, I just (tried) to translate it to give you an idea, where the following scene is taking place.

 **The tale of the handsome commander**

 _"_ _See you tomorrow", Foaly shouted after Cudgeon. "You´ll be taking out my trash." Root laughed about the centaur´s_ _comment, which was quite a rare incident for him. "Well done, Foaly", he praised him while grinning. "You caught the idiot right where it hurts, in his ambition."  
_ _"Thanks, Julius."_ _The commander´s grin disappeared faster than a deep fried slug in the LEP´s canteen. "I already warned you, Foaly. Now go back to business and try to gain control of the line. I want the gold to be prepared if Cudgeon´s plan goes wrong. Try to win all my supporters for my plan. I´m pretty sure Lope will be on our side, Cahartez too and maybe even Vinyáya. She always had a fondness of me. I am good looking after all.  
"You can´t be serious!"_ _ **  
**_ _"I never make any jokes", Root claimed, without flinching an eyelash.  
"Never." _

The centaur gave the commander a disbelieving look before he turned his attention back to his monitors. Foaly had more important things to take care of, than discussing body types and fashion with Root. Said one just left to look for a more private place to think.

 _Short will be in great danger, if Cudgeon sets the troll free. We need to give Fowl what he demands, the victory and the gold will be ours anyway._ However his thoughts were interrupted shortly after by a small giggle in his ear. The commander froze. _That_ was definitely not the laughter of the annoying pony.

"So", the purring voice whispered again. "You claim that I think you look attractive?" Root started to sweat slightly, glad that the woman on the other side could not see him. _How did she manage to hack into our communication system?_ _This is a closed line and for the current operation only!_ "Stop ignoring me, Julius. I know you can hear me." With a small sigh, the commander closed his helmet to have a chat without anyone overhearing him.

"I had no idea you were listening, wing commander." Vinyáya snickered again. "You should know me better than that, Julius. I am highly interested in your officer Short, as soon as I found out about her kidnapping, I started to observe the situation on my own." **  
**"By hacking our system? I´m surprised you were able to do so without Foaly catching on it." Another amused laugh could be heard. "My dear, you know that I am far more intelligent than I let anybody know. I like having an advantage nobody knows of. But let's come back to the fact that you think I find you attractive. How comes, Julius?"

Commander Root _really_ wanted to growl or shout at Vinyáya for calling him Julius during his working hours, but he needed her help and besides...

"Wait a minute, you said you are interested in _my_ officer!"  
"Of course I am! She is talented, clever, has a good heart and enough courage to break rules. That girl has temper. I like that. She would be a great addition to my team." Julius hat to fight the urge to roll his eyes, just in case Foaly was watching the surroundings through his iris cams. Or even worse, Raine Vinyáya was. "Besides dear, I like teasing you. Taking one of your best officers, and believe me, Short definitely is one of your best, would be a bonus." A shiver ran down the commander´s spine. "I know, you are just like a cat. I´m surprised most people have not experienced this side of your nature yet." As an answer, the wing commander purred again. "Julius", she continued and Root could almost see her tilt her head while doing so, "what exactly do you mean by stating that I am a cat?"

He gulped. "You are sneaky, clever, talented, malignant, and possessive, you take what you want and love to make others work for you, yet you also passionately take matters in your own hand. And don't forget you have your own mind. Like a cat you can fight even though you use more efficient weapons than claws. Additionally you are quite elegant, and overall beautiful..."

Shocked over what he just said, Root stopped in the middle of his sentence. Immediately Vinyáya on her side of the line jumped into action. "So, now I am the attractive one? I thought we were talking about your good looks a couple of minutes ago, Julius?"  
"Forget what I told you."  
"Never", the wing commander said with glee in her voice. "We _will_ discuss about _that_ right now!" "Please?", commander Root tried, while swallowing his pride. Vinyáya probably rolled her eyes right now. "I am not that young anymore, but I have to say eating healthy, doing my daily workout and an overall healthy lifestyle kept me quite in shape. Being a wing commander gives you enough action too. Maybe you can say that I stayed good looking."

An image of the wing commander, sitting on her desk, legs crossed, a smug grin on her red lips while throwing her long silver hair over her shoulder crossed his mind. Damn she was attractive! And those black suits section eight had made into their uniform! Determined he shook his head. _Focus, Julius! You have to finish this conversation quickly before something worse slips out between your lips. And don´t forget Short!_

"Julius!" The voice of Raine Vinyáya brought him back into reality. "Stop calling me Julius during working hours!" The wing commander completely ignored his remark in favour of teasing a bit more. "You haven´t answered me so fare."  
 _"Fine",_ he shouted. "Maybe I think you look nice!"  
"That wasn´t hard, was it? Now, how should _I_ answer _you_?" A rustle was heard, as Raine shifted on the other side. To the commander, seconds felt like hours while he was waiting for her answer. "I guess if you would quit smoking and do a little more to keep in shape, you could look even better." Julius blinked. "So you think..." Vinyáya caught him midsentence. "Have you completely forgotten about Short? You are on a mission, shame on you, Julius!" **  
**"But you just...", the commander started confused. "No buts dear, butts are for sitting only, not for rescuing your captain."  
"You just need to be sarcastic right now, don´t you? It is usually not your style." **  
**"Maybe."

A heavy sigh escaped between Roots lips. "As you are already here, you could also help me. Do you think you can manage to persuade the rest of the council to support me and send the gold?" Vinyáya shifted into working mode. "I think so. Give me some minutes to thing about convenient arguments." **  
**"Let´s be honest Raine."  
"So now you changed to my first name too? Aren´t we supposed to be professionals?"  
"Stop irritating me wing commander, this is serious."  
"Right."  
"So, let´s be honest, you could even make them run around in a circle, pretending to be little ducks. Your section has enough power and money to do so. Damn, you have enough power and money to do so."

On the other and of the line, Raine seemed to get a bit annoyed. "Yes, I know. I already told you, I´ll help you. And not only you, but Short too." A sound which reminded the commander of a chair pulled back came to Roots pointy ears. "I´ll go right now, be patient."  
"Times is running out, it is hard to just sit and wait."  
"Trust me, everything will work out."  
"Thank you, Raine."

Julius could almost see the small smile that formed on the woman's lips. "I knew I could count on you."  
"Well, it is hard to deny a request from such a handsome elf." Now, Root really had to roll his eyes. "Could we push those discussions to a more suitable time and place please?"  
"Is this an invitation to a date?" Julius grinned. "Maybe? As soon as this is over and I dealt with Short."  
"See you", the woman finished before disappearing from the line.

An angry Foaly was heard only seconds after that. "Those damn over-ground operations! I lost you completely for some minutes, everything ok Julius?"  
"Don´t call me like that, pony. And yes, everything is fine. I was actually glad to be able to think for a moment without your voice getting on my nerves. Now, where is Short?"

The centaur started to inform the commander about the most recent developments and his theories about the human boy´s next steps. It would be a lie to claim, that the commander was only thinking about the operation right now. A part of his head was occupied with plans for later. Plans, that involved his secret girlfriend since decades. And yet nobody had found out. Their hide and seek was too much fun to stop, so they continued. Otherwise, the commander would not call Raine by her first name and vice versa. They would not discuss looks and Vinyáya would never giggle or tease him openly.

 **Riddle:**

 **Two tried to catch me, even though they were just one.**  
 **A woman tried to use me, another to save me and a third seemed to depend me.**  
 **I carry a legacy in my name.**

If you know the answer, send us a PM with the solution. As soon as all 24 Stories for our advent calendar project are uploaded, the one who solved the most riddles can determine one of the stories we uploaded to extend to a "full story". For more Information, please look up our first story written by Hana.

Stories so far:

1st December: Inuyasha – Lord of the kitchen

2nd December: Artemis Fowl – The tale of the handsome commander

3rd December: tomorrow


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